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Chemical Stock Earnings Coming Up This Week: IOSP, ICL

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A couple of companies in the chemical space are slated to report their quarterly results this week. The chemical industry falls under the broader Basic Materials sector. Based on the earnings scorecard as of Feb 10, 75% of the sector participants on the S&P 500 index have already reported their quarterly numbers. Earnings for these companies increased 7.3% from the same period last year while revenues have increased by a paltry 0.1%, per the latest Earnings Preview. Overall earnings for the Basic Materials sector are now projected to rise 5.3% while revenues are expected to slip 3.2%.

The chemical industry is still on a gradual recovery mode from the trough of the Great Recession. Chemical makers continue to shift their focus to attractive, growth markets in an effort to cut their exposure on businesses that are struggling with weak demand. They are also looking for cost synergy and enhanced operational scale through consolidations as exhibited by a wide swath of deals in the recent past. Strategic actions including cost management and productivity improvement also remain the prime focus of these companies.

However, the industry remains hamstrung by a number of headwinds including a still weak agriculture market, currency headwinds, weak demand in the energy space and a sluggish Chinese economy.

Let’s see what’s in store for these two chemical companies that are slated to report fourth-quarter numbers this week.

Innospec Inc. (IOSP - Free Report) will report results after the bell on Feb 14. It has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 90 cents. This makes surprise prediction difficult even though the company carries a favorable Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters while missed once. In this timeframe, it delivered an average negative surprise of 8.80%.

Innospec Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

 

Innospec Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Innospec Inc. Quote

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL - Free Report) will report earnings numbers before the bell on Feb 15. It has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 8 cents. The company carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), which coupled with a 0.00% ESP, makes surprise prediction difficult. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

The company beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters while missing once and reporting in line on the other occasion. The average is a positive surprise of 15.28%.

Israel Chemicals Shs Price and EPS Surprise

 

Israel Chemicals Shs Price and EPS Surprise | Israel Chemicals Shs Quote

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